Whats the best aproach to this type of cover? 2024
fulltilt reply :
I fish a small-medium sized lake max depth is probably about 8 feet avg. depth i'd guess is about 3 feet. Ive been fishing on the lake about 5 times this year with mixed results usually getting about 2 to 3 LMB in a 6 hour fishing session lots of large bluegills pumpkinseed sunfish perch and scattered crappie.
i know there are a good amount of bass in this lake. i really dont know what im doing when it comes to freshwater and ive been able to catch them on small silver and gold rapala 2" and a small grasshopper and crayfish rebel (hardbait) about 1" to 1 1/2" in size.
Today i came across a patch of lake that i had never been to and like to think nobody else has been because of the distance you have to row to get to it (no motor boat lake). Depth was about 2 to 5 feet in some spots and it full of this stuff the fish were activly breaking the surface (LMB they were close enough to me to make a visual confirmation) once every 2 to 3 minutes in a 2 to 3 football field size area. I threw my rapala crawdad and grasshopper rebel was only able to hook up with 2 fish which i lost both in a 2 hour period it was very hard to keep the hooks clean and navigate the thick weed. What should i be using here? Im not even sure what the bass were chasing on the top of the water it looked like they were after the dragonflys that were hovering and landing on the weeds breaking surface. I have some 9s watermellon with red and black flake senkos and some 2/0 sugoi hooks on the way to me in the mail will these work for that type of cover?
Sorry for the long post but im really motivated to get these fish they were pracitally jumping in the boat and i couldnt hook up.
tbird reply :
TRY A HEAVY WEIGHTED PLASTIC WORM TEXAS RIGGED AND FLIP IT TO PUNCH THROUGH THE GRASS . ALSO TRY A POP-R OR OTHER TOPWATER BAIT OR RATL TRAP.
CJ reply :
Welcome to the forum.I think that area has weightless senko and weightless horny toad wrote all over it!Spooks , lightly weighted t-rigged worms,rat-l-traps and ofcourse a spinnerbait waked on the surface.Try working the edges of the grass with the t-riggged worm.Alot of fish should be there waiting to ambush what goes by.Then work your way to the middle with a spinner,senko or surface presentation.Diving cranks are tough to present in the grass.GOOD LUCK!Let us know how you did! CJ
Skwerl reply :
I'd be slow twitching a fluke through there, weightless on a 4/0 EWG hook. If you aren't comfortable fishing a bait that slow, get some Zoom horny toads (or better yet, Stanley Ribbit frogs if you can find them) and use the same size 4/0 hooks. Be sure to mix up your retrieve a bit and let the bait stop and sink every few feet. Most strikes will come on the fall.
For colors, my favorites are a watermelon seed (mossy green with black flake) or watermelon red (green with red flake) for daytime, mostly sunny conditions and a junebug color for dawn or dusk.
Randall reply :
Topwater where the weeds are just under the surface all day long and toad type baits where there is grass on the surface. Also swim a worm with a light weight just over the grass. If there is any kind of channel running through the area pitch worms , tubes , and jigs to the edges of the channel with enough weight to get down in the stuff. Use a larger bait as well there should be a few good ones in there. Senkos should be good there to fish when you need something slower and they wont hit surface baits.
SCarter reply :
Was thinking the topwater route fist, maybe walking a Sammy or a Pop-R. after that, I would probably pitch a jig or sweet beaver in using enough weight to punch to the bottom.
rocknfish9001 reply :
I fish a lake EXACTLY like this up here in michigan. Its loaded with hawgs and pike. The hot ticket is either a spinner bait fished quickly or a johnson silver minnow with a green and white pork trailer, had to be size 11 trailer. Th spoon was the best bet. The entire lake was about 3 feet, with spots around 6
basser89 reply :
Welcome to the boards fulltilt!
Three baits come to mind. 1 would be t-rigged tube pitched into pockets in the grass (with a light weight bullet weight) or go heavy on the bullet weight and punch down through the thickest stuff you can find! The second would be a weightless t-rigged trick worm either worked on top or just under the surface. The third would be a buzzfrog bait. If I were to use a spinnerbait, I would opt for a 3/16oz in either a single or double williowleaf worked fairly fast (using it as a search bait for aggressive bass). Hope this helps!
Mase31683 reply :
I know exactly that type of weedy water. I had extremely good success with a weightless senko texas rigged. When those puppies show up in the mail, I think you should break em in!
fulltilt reply :
Thanks for the replys, i didnt expect to get so much helpful advice.
I def. need to do some shopping for frog and toad type baits before i go out again. How should i be rigging these frogs as far as penetrating it with the hook? should the hook be through its back like a storm shad would be ?
I also didnt really fish the outskirts of the bed i just saw the fish and went full bore into the weeds where they were jumping.
The only thing i have been fishing at this lake has been topwater floating along the banks throwing under trees and brush with mixed results.
alhuff reply :
fulltilt, welcome to the board, you will find you get alot of info, the hard part is finding the time to use that info.... ;D
i too would use just about anything weightless...i've recently starting useing Horny Toads and love them.
let us know how you do,
Alfred
scwildbill reply :
Fulltilt..... Frogs and Flukes will do the trick but the one lure the I found that works really well is a small buzzbait.... I had a day similiar to yours once when I was stationed in Tx.... Went to a small lake(Coleto Creek) and bass were feeding on topwater like CRAZY! I've never seen anything like it before (or since). I threw everything at them and could not get a bite to save my life. They weren't interested until I stopped fishing and actually watched what they were doing. They were chasing dragon flies and crashing down on them with so much force it was scary!... I broke out my buzzbait rod rigged it with an 1/8oz buzzbait and threw it out there... I couldn't get them to hit that either.....Until I made a bad cast..... I had seen a bass break the surface close enough to cast to and I hurriedly made a cast and missed the target. I reeled that buzzbait as fast as humanly possible to try and make another cast to the sweet spot and all of a sudden a bass just crushed it as I was reeling it in!!... That told me they wanted the bait moving fast.... SUPER FAST!!!..... I was once told that bass can made sudden bursts of speed that are mind boggling and there is NO WAY an angler can move a bait through the water too fast.....Try this tips sometime and see if it helps...... That day is one of my most memorable trips as I proceeded to catch more bass there than I ever did before!!
gatrboy53 reply :
in fla. we have plenty of submersive vegetation,looks like hydrilla.bass love the stuff,you find that type of veg. and youll find bass.topwater throw a horny toad on pretty heavy line.even a small bass will wrap you in a heartbeat.if its not topped out yet you can throw your treble baits but youll have less aggravation w/ weedless t-rigged plastics.flukes are excellent also.most of the time your going to have to get down in that stuff to get bit.weightless senkos fished in the pockets or less dense areas are killer.for the thicker stuff use as much lead as necassary to penetrate through ,let it go to bottom, raise up untill you fill resistance then shake bait for at least 10 sec.,drop back down let rest a moment,repeat .pull out throw back in ,repeat.pick are area and committ to it for awhile, dont be movin around alot as youll spook the fish close by .the fish in that stuff will come to you.dont be afraid to get in there and get messy ,thats where the fish are at.fish big plastics 10-12'' worms and hop em up and down.bigger profile baits are easier for them to see.your gonna get fouled alot but dont let it discourage you,make it your friend and youll be rewarded.
THEbassmaster reply :
rockinfish, where are you in michigan? i live in northwest ohio, but fish in southeast lakes in michigan. just wondering.
THEbassmaster
jomatty reply :
try a fat ika around the edges and a tube with a heavy pegged tungsten weight to punch through the grass.
matt
guest reply :
Looks alot like coon tail moss to me. very good bass cover. any t-rigged plastic worm etc. should work great depending on temp. clarity, etc. if windy, try spinnerbaits as a search bait. Cover like this can also be dynamite for topwaters and jerkbaits, especially when the weeds are close to topping out. In short. This is great cover. Alot of the tools in your arsenal will work depending on conditions. This was good find. Kudo's to you for making the effort to row to places where the lazy's won't go. That's what separates the average joe basser from the truly dedicated.
Bass Hammer reply :
Don't forget about a buzzbait.
Burn something black across the top of that salad.
RobDar reply :
wow...I do not think there is anything I can add to all that advice...
my only advice would be patient and fish the pads thoroughly and completely. drop you lure in every hole you can get into...
BD reply :
weightless senko......first and foremost!
playmaker47 reply :
SPINNERBAIT!!!!
Those weeds are perfect for spinnerbaits. Usually they grow over large areas, so spinnerbaits will help you cover water faster. Use a jerky retrieve right over the top of the weeds. if there are gaps on the weeds let it fall into the gaps and then jerk it up and down. Spinnerbaits are extremely weedless so dont worry about snags. I would use a 3/16 to 1/4 oz spinnerbait because it will fall a little slower than heavier spinnerbaits. As for blades I would try double willow, 1 silver 1 gold, or Tandem blades. If you say there are lots of bluegill in the lake give firetiger skirts a try. Also any skirt with whites in them are always good.
MHH reply :
Weightless T-rigged lizard, cranked fast accross the the surface (assuming it's not windy). Hang on, you'll be amazed at how hard they'll hit it.
Panamoka_Bassin reply :
LMAO!! Just reading though this thread and I don't think you guys have missed mentioning anything in the tackle box...Try anything and everything...hehehe...however, all of it is correct...
wacky rig reply :
I enjoy throwing a weightless zoom speed worm in the shallow grass with much success.
fulltilt reply :
Heading out tomorrow morning (fri jun. 23rd) Picked up ribbits horny toads and senkos and re spooled my rod with some 20# green power pro and a fluro leader. Wish me luck ill report back the results..... possibly some pictures.
Thanks again for the help
Bass Hammer reply :
Tear em' up. 
fulltilt reply :
Just a couple pictures from my camera phone got about 11 fish total and the 1 good size perch.
I had some trouble working the frog my friend and i threw a horny toad and stanley frog for about a half hour they just werent hitting it or we were using it wrong. Went to a 4" senko rigged up weedless with a white grub guard/bead once i got the action and technique down i started to catch my share of bass. I wasnt used to fishing with the braided line at first and missed a few hooksets due to jumping the gun a bit before the bass really got the lure in its mouth. There really is a big difference in sensitivity between the mono and braid.
The technique i was using on the frogs was just throwing them out to where i thought fish were holding and using a steady retrieve over the weeds and holes just enough to make the legs kick nicely. Not a bite.
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